Designing Effective Engagement Processes

In the first blog post, six aspects of public engagement were introduced.  These aspects draw from examples from the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (a collaborative policy and research center that facilitates the resolution of complex public policy challenges in Washington State and beyond) and the author’s two decades of research, training, and practice in public engagement and collaboration. The first aspect of public engagement is “The Mindset of Collaborative Engagement,” the second aspect is “Developing the Purpose of Engagement,” and the third is “Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders.” Today, we will discuss the fourth aspect, “Designing Effective Engagement Processes.”

Designing the right engagement process is critical to achieving successful outcomes. The process should be flexible enough to adapt to community needs while ensuring that the purpose of the engagement is met.  Innovative process designs, which blend participatory methods with collaborative governance principles, can help government succeed in service delivery – as demonstrated by work from William D. Ruckelshaus Center.

For example, in the Civic Health Summit and WA-CELI training, the Ruckelshaus Center used Art of Hosting techniques to facilitate open, inclusive discussions where participants could actively contribute. The Art of Hosting is a participatory methodology designed to facilitate meaningful dialogue and collaboration to create spaces where all voices are valued, trust is built, and co-creation of solutions to complex challenges is emphasized. This bottom-up approach ensures that engagement is shaped by the people most affected, making it more responsive and relevant.

At its core, the Art of Hosting blends a variety of facilitation techniques, including:

1. Creating group agreements to guide conversation and deal with disagreements as they arise. For example, we asked Summit for Civic Health participants to “Share the Air and Notice their Impact” so that one person would not monopolize discussion.
2. Identifying core assumptions related to purpose that guide the work. For example, in WA-CELI, one of our core assumptions is that human connection is the root of all systems change- including building civic health. That led us to a design that emphasized relationships and trust building among participants.
3. Circle Practice – A method where participants sit in a circle to create an equal space for dialogue, ensuring everyone can speak and be heard. Creating a circle center with elements related to the group provides a point for the circle to gather around. In WA-CELI, our center included Legos for some of our activities.
4. World Café – A structured conversational process that fosters open discussions by having participants rotate between tables to discuss specific questions, encouraging cross-pollination of ideas. World Café’s are great for understanding how people are experiencing a particular policy issue. It does not require participants to come to a resolution or solution but provides important space to understand lived experiences.
5. Open Space Technology – A self-organizing process that allows participants to set the agenda based on what they feel is most important, promoting creativity and engagement. In Open Space, our agenda is guided by purpose but not preordained.
6. ProAction Café – A dynamic process for collaborative problem-solving, where participants bring forward ideas or challenges, and others offer insights and feedback. This process is usually held in three rounds where a problem is identified and expanded with lived experience in Round 1 and solutions are offered and refined in Round 2 and 3. In large groups, participants rotate among groups to encourage cross-pollination.
7. Harvesting – The practice of capturing insights, ideas, and key takeaways from discussions in real-time, ensuring that contributions are documented and reflected upon to shape future actions. Harvests may be from the group or individuals and may be tangible – journals, written report outs from groups, visual harvests from conversations- or intangible – relationship building, increased trust in government and public processes.

By using these tools in our process design,  the Ruckelshaus Center has shown the importance of creating space where groups can navigate complex issues collaboratively, ensuring that solutions are co-created through the collective wisdom of the group. This is great in situations where diverse stakeholders need to engage in deep conversations. The emphasis on adaptability and shared leadership makes it particularly effective for fostering trust and building consensus in collaborative governance. Remember though that it is critical to communicate to participants why they are gathered and what role they have in policy making – whether it is consultation, co-creation, or empowerment to make decisions.

In agile government terms, the engagement process is seen as an evolving system. Leaders should design processes that allow for feedback and adaptation, ensuring that public input is not just collected but actively shapes the outcome. By focusing on flexibility and responsiveness, public leaders can design processes that are efficient.  Moreover, when designing engagement processes, consider methods that encourage participation from all stakeholders. Government can create multiple points of entry for different groups, use facilitation techniques that foster dialogue, and remain open to adjusting the process as it evolves needed